Paul Collingwood may not grab the headlines like teammates Andrew Flintoff or Kevin Pietersen, but he's becoming a key player in England's World Cup campaign.

The all-rounder hit 90 in the 48-run win over Ireland on Friday rescuing his team from a precarious 89-3 in the sides' opening Super Eights match and Collingwood believes previous experience of conditions in the Caribbean helped him pace his innings.

"I played out here three years ago and we've found out since we've been out in the Caribbean that it takes a little bit of time to get in on these wickets," said Collingwood.

"You have to get yourself in and then later in the innings you can make up on the run-rate a little bit. That tends to be my rhythm and then I managed to clear the boundary a few times on Friday which helps.

"The pitches are slow so you have to give yourself a chance and take advantage later in the innings once you get set," said Collingwood who is enjoying his role in the England middle order.

"Ideally, you like to come in during the last overs and give it a nudge. But I bat at five and it's my job to be versatile."

Friday's win put England into fourth place in the Super Eights table and into a provisional semi-final place.

However, they still have five matches to play in this marathon tournament with Sri Lanka and Australia next up in Antigua on Wednesday and Sunday respectively.

"They will be very tough matches," said Collingwood.

"But we have been working hard and we hope that will count in those games."

Skipper Michael Vaughan admitted that England need their top order to fire if they are to progress in the tournanment.

Against Ireland, Ed Joyce was out for one, Vaughan followed for six while Ian Bell made 31.

It was left to Collingwood, Pietersen (48) and Flintoff (43) to steer England to a respectable total of 266-7.

"It was a tough day. We wanted the two points and we've got them but it wasn't easy," said Vaughan.

"We'd love the top order to fire but it didn't happen (on Friday). We'll have to work very hard over the next few days to make sure that it fires in the next game against Sri Lanka on Wednesday in Antigua.

"The most important thing today was to win the two points. We didn't get any from the St Lucia leg of the campaign but we have two points now and we've started the Super Eights well."